Automotive racing game apparatus



Jan. 25, 1966 J. HowARTH ETAL 3,231,279

AUTOMOTIVE RACING GAME APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l A-Fm- INVENTOR: Jou/v HowA RT H TREVQR FUUL x66 @N65 BY GMM, & pdb/f;

H'rro R MEV Jan. Z5, 1966 J. HowARTH ETAL 3,231,279

AUTOMOTIVE RACING GAME APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed OCT.. 18, 1962INVENTOH; JOHN HowARTH 4 mec/0R Fal/wf; 7o/vas H-rroRn/E/ United StatesPatent C) 3,231,279 AUTOMOTIVE RACING GAME APPARATUS John Howarth andTrevor F. Jones, Manchester, England, assignors to John WaddingtonLimited, Leeds, England Filed Oct. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 231,479 Claimspriority, application Great Britain, Apr. 4, 1962,

` 12,384/ 62 3 Claims. (Cl. 273-434) The invention has as its object theprovision of new or improved games and apparatus for playing the same,the game being intended .for a number of players and demanding a` degreeof skill, coupled with an element of chance, in its performance.

Broadly, the game is a racing game and is more particularly though notexclusively intended for car racing upon an appropriate board whereonminiature cars or other suitable models or objects are manipulatedaccording to prescribed rules, aided, when necessary, by the use ofcards and dice, or by any other similar or suitable means.

According to the invention the apparatus comprises a board or playingarea having marked thereon a motor car racing or like trackdividedthroughout its length into lanes which lanes are divided bytransverse lines to form spaces; a number of model or miniature cars orlike devices formanipulati-on upon the board, and a dashboard layoutdevice consisting of ya number of calibrated gauges or indicators eachfurnished with a manually adjustable pointer.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGIURE l is a plan view of a board or playing area for playing a gameaccording to one aspect of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a use in playing the game.

FIGURE 3 is an elevation of a model or miniature racing car for use inthe game, of which there may be several identical devices, apart fromcolour yor number.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are plan views of cards for use in playing the game,each of the said cards |being in sets bearing different captions.

Referring to the drawings, the board A (FIGURE l) has printed thereon aracing circuit or track divided throughout i-ts length into any numberof lanes all of which lanes are divided by equidistant transverse linesto provide spaces B. Also marked upon the board are starting grid C,finishing line D, pits E and vari-ous points or' interest such ascorners F, buildings, bends G (which may be named) and advertisements H,together with hazards such as spin off points which points may beindicated by printed notices in panels M projecting from coloured bandsor sections J.

Framed penalty charts K are provided at convenient parts of the boardfor the use of players, which charts are divided into columns suita-blyheaded. For instance, the columns may read Number on Dice, Speed overSafety Speed andPenalty, and beneath the headings are tabulated numbersand instructions together with another set of columns bearing headingssuch as Reduction in Speed, Points to be moved on Brake Wear Gauge andPoints to vbe moved on Tire Wear Gauge. Beneath the headings suitabledata are given.

lBoth or all the penalty charts are identical as are also the speedreduction charts.

piece of apparatus for Cil Adapted to be arranged near the aforesaidcharts are calibrated dash-board layouts N (see FIGURE 2) eachrepresenting a speedometer O, a tire wear gauge or indicator P, a brake`wear gauge or indicator R and a lap indicator O1, each havingnumerically calibrated dials, and each provided ywith a pivoted hand orpointer U pivoted at W whereby the several pointers may be manuallymoved by a player to point to any of the numbers of the respective dialsand thereby record. the players status as to speed, tire wear, brakewear and number of laps. On each dashboard unit is -a panel S which maybe marked Danger-mo tread left, keep to safetyspeeds and No brakes left,you can reduce speed by only 20 miles per hour per move and if any morebrake stress is demanded by penalty chart you must spin ott.

Assuming that the board is designed for 2-6 players, when two or threeplayers are participating each may race one car T (FIGURE 3), but skillof players and enjoyment of the game are increased if each player racestwo cars, with adjacent dashboard layouts, as a team. p

It four, tive or six players participate only one car per player may beentered.

The race may be of any length, but a minimum of 3 laps must be raced forall factors in the game to take effect. The game may be played asfollows:

The start Place each car T on its respective space B on the startinggrid, the choice or" cars being decided by throwing'a die. The playerobtaining the highest number chooses his colour of car, then the playerwith the next highest chooses his colour and so on. All the playersthensit by their own dash-board layout(s) N.

The Tactic Cards are shumed and live cards are `dealt` Order of movingit is discarded until lst car awayyellow 3rd car away-green 5th carawayblack 2nd car away-orange l 4th car away-red last car away-blueMoving A driver may vary his speed `from turn to turn and indicate allsuch changes on his speedometer O at the commencement ot each turn.

Speed may be increased by 20, 40 or 60 `m.p.h. each turn but never bymore than 60 m.p.hl V

It 20 m.p.h. is set on the speedometermove car l space on board. A i

lf 40 m.p.h. is set `on the speedometer`mov-e car 2 spaces on board.

If 60 m.p.h. is set on the speedometer-morecar 3 spaces on board. l

If m.p.h. is set on the speedometer-more car 4 spaces on board, and soon.

-For instance, a driver indicates 60 m.p.h., sol he moves his car 3spaces. Next turn he wants to increase his speed by 60 m.p.h. so hemoves his speedometer to l2() m.p.h. and moves his car 6 spaces.

Only one car is allowed on one space at a time.

Patented Jan. 25, 1966 r Direction of movement Movement is always in aforward direction; straight ahead or diagonally but never sideways.

Hazards (which may be indicated on the board by coloured bands orsectors J) Corners F can be taken without incurring any penalty providedthat the speeds shown on the coloured bands J are not exceeded, butthere can be no hope of a win if thesafety speed is always adhered to.When a car, which has been moved in accordance with the rules for movingSet out above, has passed over lor come to rest on a coloured-band J andlhas exceeded the safety speed shown, the die must be thrown. Dependenton the number thrown there is the possibility of paying the penalty oftire wear `and/or brake wear, or of spinning of.

When a car crosses two coloured bands J over the safety speedduring thecourse of one move the die must be thrown and the possible penalty paidseparately for each band.

Tfhe penalties are listed on the penalty charts K printed on the board.The faster a corner is taken over the coloured bands J, the greater therisk of harsh penalties; a coloured band taken at any speed in excess of40 mph. above the safety speed automatically leads to the car spinningoff `the track.

Spinning o# Spinning off is a motor car racing term 4for leaving thetra-ck. The spinning off penalty results from taking corners atexcessive speeds or from not allowing for badly wor-n tires whencornering.

The car spins off in the following three cases:

(1) If a coloured 'band is crossed at a speed in excess of 40 mph. abovethe safety speed.

(2) When a speed reduction of over 20 mph. is demanded and there are nobrakes left.

(3) When a red corner band is crossed at Iany speed over the safetyspeed and the tire wear gauge is at its maximum v of 8.

When a car spins. oif as a result of being baulked, and being forced tobrake too hard (see baulking) it is placed on the outside of the track`opposite the point at which it is standing.

When a oar spins. off yotherwise than as a result of being 'baulked, andbeing forced to brake too hard, it is placed on the, spin off point Mfor that particular coloured band and the speedometer O is moved tozero. By the rules of the game no damage is done by spinning ott and thecar proceeds at its next normal turn.

Reduction in speed Due to the hazards at various points on the track,the need to slow down arises. Gentle reduction in speed does not bringany penalty, but harsher braking results in wear of the brakes andtires.

Speed redaction chart Points to be Points to be Moved on Moved onReduction in Speed, m.p.h. Brake Tire Wear Wear Gauge Gauge As indicatedby the above chart, a m.p.h. reduction does not result in any brake ortire wear; Imoderate use of brakes results only in brake wear; harsherbraking results in brake and tire wear.

All such brake and tire wear must be indicated on the dials l? and Rprovided. As the game progresses tire wear may become excessive andreach its maximum of 8 points, in which case, speed may be reduced 'by40 mph. only.

Second chances not allowed if a driver accelerates too hard, orpositions his car incorrectly, he must pay for his error.

Once the speedometer O has been set the driver must abide by it. Oncethe car has been moved .and has been released by the players fingers theposition of the car cannot be altered.

Baulking B'auiking the other drivers by placing your car in such aposition so that they cannot overtake you is to your advantage. Thisusually can be brought about where the track is narrowed by islands V orsome other feature such as a bridge X over a pond Y but can occur on theopen track.

If at any time a player is unable to move the number of spaces indicatedon his speedometer due to another car baulking him, he moves as manyspaces as possible.

Pit stops Pit stops enable a driver to have his tires changed and brakesadjusted so that he can ycontinue the race with his tires and brakes inperfect condition.

When approaching the pits, a driver must set his speedometer so that bymoving the number of spaces indicated the car can be brought exactly toits own pit stop. All dials are then set at zero, lthe driver takes aPit C-ard and ycarries out the instructions given on it.

Should a driver miscalculate and the car go past its pit stop it mustcontinue on the new lap without stopping at the pits.

Note

Pit stop squares Z form a part of the track and can be passed over inthe normal Way.

The game can be made more interesting by having a League Championship ofseveral races with l0 points for the winner, 8 points for second place,6 points for third place, 4 points for fourth place, 2 points for fthplace and 1 point for sixth place in races of 5 laps; the ChampionDriver being the one who earns the highest total number of points fromIall the races.

The gameboard and apparatus may be modified, if desired, and the variouspenalties and manner of play varied considerably without departing fromthe principle of the invention.

It has been found in practice that the layouts N are more convenient touse when they are separate entities 'but it must be understood that theymay be incorporated in the board which board may be foldable upon thetransverse dotted lines shown in FIGURE I.

We cl-aim:

1. In an automotive race game, the combination with a plurality of toycars of a game board having pictorially represented thereon yanautomotive racing track of substantially rectangular configuration withcurved turns which is divided throughout its length into lanes, whichlanes are divided by transverse lines to form spaces, said track beingprovided with a starting and a finishing line and indicia designatingsafe speeds at the turns, at least one space at each turn projectingfrom the track and being marked to represent a hazard and divert carsthereto, a dashboard layout device for each player of the gameconsisting of a plurality of manually operated calibrated dials, one ofsaid dials representing a speedometer which is provided with a series ofspeed indicating indicia, said indicia including the speeds designatedat the turns of the game board and additional indicia designating higherspeeds than those indicated on the game board, and a set of cards forindicating moves the cars are to take around the track.

2. An automotive race game as recited in claim 1 wherein the manuallyVoperated dials include a tire wear indicator, a brake wear indicatorand a lap indicator in addition to said speedometer.

3. An automotive race game as recited in claim 2 wherein the game boardbears instructions as to steps to be taken by `a player of the game whengiven conditions exist in the status of the game.

5 References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/ 1925 tB-ain.

5/ 1926 IPauer 273-134 12/1951 Graves 273-134 10 6/1956 Arnold 273-13410/ 1962 Barnes 273-134 6 FOREIGN PATENTS 231,890 4/ 1959 Australia.

913,849 6/ 1946 France. 1,252,384 12/ 1960 France.

27 0, 1 52 5/ 19127 Great Britain.

505,365 4/ 1939 Great Britain.

253,493 11/ 1948 Switzerland.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. E'VON C. BLUNK, Examiner.

S. E. FELDMAN, E. R. ZACK, Assistant Examiners.

1. IN AN AUTOMOTIVE RACE GAME, THE COMBINATION WITH A PLURALITY OF TOYCARS OF A GAME BOARD HAVING PICTORIALLY REPRESENTED THEREON ANAUTOMOTIVE RACING TRACK OF SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION WITHCURVED TURNS WHICH IS DIVIDED THROUGHOUT IS LENGTH INTO LANES, WHICHLANES ARE DIVIDED BY TRANSVERSE LINES TO FORM SPACES, SAID TRACK BEINGPROVIDED WITH A STARTING AND A FINISHING LINE AND INDICIA DESIGNATINGSAFE SPEEDS AT THE TURNS, AT LEAST ONE SPACE AT EACH TURN PROJECTINGFROM THE TRACK AND BEING MARKED TO REPRESENT A HAZARD AND DIRVERT CARSTHERETO, A DASHBOARD LAYOUT DEVICE FOR EACH PLAYER OF THE GAMECONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF MANUALLY OPERATED CALIBRATED DIALS, ONE OFSAID DIALS REPRESENTING A SPEEDOMETER WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A SERIES OFSPEED INDICATING INDICIA, SAID INDICIA INCLUDING THE SPEED DESIGNATED ATTHE TURNS OF THE GAME BOARD AND ADDITIONAL INDICIA DESIGNATING HIGHERSPEEDS THAN THOSE INDICATED ON THE GAME BOARD, AND A SET OF CARDS FORINDICATING MOVES THE CARS ARE TO TAKE AROUND THE TRACK.